Just wondering if anyone else has tried using ordinary scissors in the kitchen. I've found them to be wonderful at cutting wild onion greens, dandelions, and other lettuce and leafy vegetables. I've been returning from my lunch-time walks each day with a nice bag of wild-onion greens. They go right into the pot and then I go at them with the scissors cutting away. Much quicker than any knife and more fun.

And you can even get into cutting while the stuff is cooking -- your hands stay out of the hot liquid, and only the scissor blades get wet.

This is one of those spiritual exercises which is difficult to appreciate until you give it a try._________________' She says, 'I am the glamorous type.' I said, 'So what?'

Hi
I have two or three pairs of variously sized scissors that I use all the time when cooking. They are one of the key ingredients in my kitchen armoury! Try a decent pair with long handles for cutting herbs on the hoof, and you will be amazed how soon you find yourself using scissors for all kinds of jobs. _________________Alice Bee

I can't imagine why someone would not have scissors in the kitchen? Besides the use that both AliceBee and Sarape described, I use them to put those infamous 'slits' into the cling film of frozen dinners, opening cereal bags rather than ripping them to bits, taking the Shrink-Wrapped "Devils from Hell" wrapping that entombs 4 cans of cat food, and coupon clipping.

I have a wonderfully monsterous kitchen, 20 x 20 feet, and I have 5 pairs of scissors, all labeled, strewn throughout the place. I have small ones, large ones, and heavy duty ones, you know, the type that they show people cutting through tin cans on TV. I've never paid more than ONE dollar at Dollar Bills for any of them, either.

If I have my whisk, a wooden spoon and my scissors, I'm a happy camper.

O'kay, good, so the scissors are a common accessory in the kitchen. I just never see "Emirl" or any other professional cooks using scissors, so I thought they might be a kitchen faux paus.

Speaking of faux paus, (is that the right spelling?), I was in Chicago on Friday for a one-day trip and we had free time before our meeting, so we ate lunch in the airport at a place called "Harry Carry's", the Chicago sports-caster's restaurant. Well, the waitor served our lunch by reaching from my left across my face and to the person sitting on my right. Not only did she not walk around to each person, but stood in one spot and served all the dishes for 5 of us. I thought that poor service since the prices in that place were very high considering what we were eating.

I must be getting sensitive about decorum in my old age.

ps, I'm certainly not a fan of "Emirl". I think he's way too much showman._________________' She says, 'I am the glamorous type.' I said, 'So what?'

Yeah, I know Emeril has won all the awards, but I still think Alton Brown is a much more creative person even if he does focus on very basic cooking. He, more than any other TV chef, has improved the way I cook things that I've cooked for 30 years. And he's a whole hell of a lot more entertaining to boot!

O'kay, good, so the scissors are a common accessory in the kitchen. I just never see "Emirl" or any other professional cooks using scissors, so I thought they might be a kitchen faux paus...ps, I'm certainly not a fan of "Emirl". I think he's way too much showman.

It always surprises my friends (who do not cook) that I, (who does cook) can't stand watching The Food Network.

You nailed it on the head, Sarape..."too much showman ship!" Ugh! At the Reality TV site that I'm usually hanging at, there's a massive Rachel Ray thread. She is so popular among that set that several posters have their screen name as either "EVOO" (E.xtra V.irgin O.live O.il) or "Ray-Ray fan". So, I figured out that I needed to see this chick. I needed a double scotch after 5 minutes of her giggles, homilies and 'evoo's. I intentionally hit "MUTE" on the set, and proceeded to count 53 hand and arm gestures in 2 minutes time! After that, I became too bored with her to count any longer. Same goes for Emeril *BAM!* and all the other cooking "personalities"...and I'm using that description loosely.

I'm also wondering if women would have more of a tendency to use scissors than men. Women are so used to using them in normal, everyday life with kids, fashion and cutting hair, that it would be a natural seque to using them in the kitchen. I may be waaaaay off base, but I don't think so.

My friend, Ali, has two roommates, one female and one male. The female roommate uses the kitchen scissors for most of her meals, including using it to "chop" up large canned tomatoes and mincing basil. The male roommate, however, will use his teeth or a steak knife to rip open bags, boxes or reduce things to shreds. When we asked Paul, once, why he "didn't use the scissors," he replied, "That's what God gave you teeth for."

Only if I looked like THIS would I use my teeth to open things!

Sarape wrote:

Speaking of faux paus, (is that the right spelling?), I was in Chicago on Friday for a one-day trip and we had free time before our meeting, so we ate lunch in the airport at a place called "Harry Carry's", the Chicago sports-caster's restaurant. Well, the waitor served our lunch by reaching from my left across my face and to the person sitting on my right. Not only did she not walk around to each person, but stood in one spot and served all the dishes for 5 of us. I thought that poor service since the prices in that place were very high considering what we were eating.

I must be getting sensitive about decorum in my old age.

I haven't been to Harry Caray's place because I avoid ALL of the Chicago restaurants that are 'tourist' driven. There's so many other excellent restaurants that are less expensive AND better service, Sarape, and these traps don't deserve your hard, earned money.

Here's the link to Harry Caray's Place :http://www.harrycarays.com/

And you're not getting "too sensitive". You're just classy and know the difference between lack of class and not.

Dairy_Queen, I am SO with you on Rachel Ray! I turn the channel as soon as she comes on and can't for the life of me understand who can listen to her unimaginative redunancy, mindless giggling and prosaic cooking.

That being said, I really enjoy watching my bud, AB (TIVO him every show!), Paula Dean (just love to hear her say "bauwling" as in bauwling pot of pasta) and for some reason her giggling doesn't get to me the same way and Ina Garten.

You know, thinking about it, I'd say Paula Dean giggles because she gets such a kick out of life while RR seems nervous and self-conscious. Maybe that's why one bothers me more...

******

And (just to stay on topic) I have kitchen shears but basically only use them to open packages. I wonder how that effects your gender scew??? I got the Fiskar ones because you can separate the halves and pop them in the dishwasher and they're about half the price of the Henkle ones that separate. I really wanna put them through the hot dishwasher cycle 'cause some of the packaging I'm opening is raw chicken.

Now, out in the garden I DO use scissors to harvest my herbs like chives and woody stemmed things like oregano & rosemary.

Dairy_Queen, I am SO with you on Rachel Ray! I turn the channel as soon as she comes on and can't for the life of me understand who can listen to her unimaginative redunancy, mindless giggling and prosaic cooking.

Thank God that at least one other person can't stand Rachel Ray! I didn't go into watching her show to dislike her, but after just two shows, I found her as abrasive as a nutmeg grater on knuckles. What her fans proclaim, is that she's "perky, spunky (ugh!), SEXY, girly, like-the-girl-next-door, and has a hot ass!

Sorry. If I wanted to watch "Cheerleaders Do Cookin'", I'd turn to SPIKE TV and catch it there!

Rainey wrote:

That being said, I really enjoy watching my bud, AB (TIVO him every show!), Paula Dean (just love to hear her say "bauwling" as in bauwling pot of pasta) and for some reason her giggling doesn't get to me the same way and Ina Garten.

I don't know who Alton Brown is; does he also do shows on the Food Network? As I said earlier, I have avoided watching that channel since the Dawn of Time, so unless the Food Celebrity does tooth paste commercials or some such thing, I don't know who they are. I just recently (last week) caught Ina Garten, solely because a wonderful friend of mine said, "You MUST see the Barefoot Contessa, Bee! You're just like Ina!" So, I went to the FNetwork's main page to see when she was on and caught one show.

I was freaked OUT with the similarities: our looks, our voice, our mannerisms. Now, I have to avoid that show because of the Doppleganger Effect!

Not only do we use our Henkel scissors ALL the time in the kitchen (both of us - so does that mean my husband is confused? ) but we also have a pair of sheet metal shears hanging by the pots and pans. Those are used for butterflying chickens. Much much easier - and safer - than using the cleaver. And we also have a pair of ordinary paper scissors hanging by the back door that is specifically used for cutting garden herbs and another pair of ordinary paper scissors in the basement by the plant light to cut bay leaves and rosemary from the plants that are housed indoors for the winter.

I don't dislike Rachel Ray's cooking show. She takes a lot of silly short cuts and it drives me crazy that she doesn't put her vegetable ends into a compost bin but she has inspired us to make some really good things. I'm not sure that we've particularly followed what she did though... and we do spend a lot of the time saying "no no no!! That's not done yet" or "no! no! no! those onions need to be caramelized first!" (I can't stand her travelling and eating on $40 a day show though. She doesn't have a clue about finding real places to go to eat.) And I think that Emiril is a pretty thoughtful cook - too bad about the stupid format of the only show we see on FoodTV-Canada (the one with audience sitting and "oooohing" every time he says "garlic" or "kick it up a notch" brrrrr)

Joined: 18 Oct 2004Posts: 1654Location: Within view of Elliot Bay, The Olympics and every ship in the Sound

Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2005 2:30 pm Post subject:

I had held back on my feelings about Emeril and Rachel Ray yesterday but seeing as how the flood gates are open... That EVOO thing drives me BONKERS!!!
My hero Tony Bourdain describes Emeril as "Ewok like". I don't know about that, but what I do know is "kick it up a notch" or "BAM", are like nails on a chalk board.
I do love, love, love Ina Garten, (The Contessa as David refers to her). Her philosophy for food and entertaining has shaped the way I do things. I also like Giada DeLaurentis, her recipes are great. She has a cookbook coming out soon, I can't wait!
If you don't know Alton Brown you should really check him out. His show is my husbands favorite because it combines cooking with science. The show can be a bit cheesy at times but it is very educational._________________"It's watery....and yet there's a smack of ham."

I really like Anthony Bourdain's writing (loved "Kitchen Confidential" and have "Les Halles Cookbook" on order) but I cannot stand watching him on TV. His arrogance is just too too too overwhelming.

And Giada DeLaurentis? She's okay, I guess. But, oh dear; I'm afraid that one of the reasons we watch is to laugh at the way she describes everything she tastes as "crunchy on the outside, soft and juicy inside..."

And you're not getting "too sensitive". You're just classy and know the difference between lack of class and not.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm the only person sensitive to these things. Of course, this Chocolate&Zcchini group is a collection of sensitive beings, I'm sure of that.

The other 4 men I ate with in Chicago at Harry Cary's place were the top people in our company: the CEO, the CFO, VP's etc. I never would have picked a chain restaurant in the first place. And I didn't notice any of the others at the table at all concerned with the service or the food. They ordered and ate and didn't for a moment reflect. It was lunch time, here was a restaurant, let's eat._________________' She says, 'I am the glamorous type.' I said, 'So what?'